Biography of Pythagoras. Brief biography of Pythagoras - an ancient Greek philosopher

What contribution of Pythagoras to science, philosophy and mathematics you will learn from this article.

What is the contribution of Pythagoras to mathematics?

The contribution to the geometry of which cannot be underestimated, made truly great discoveries. Pythagoras created his own school and, together with his students, he worked hard to give scientific nature for geometry. In addition to the fact that he created the famous Pythagorean theorem (it is very important for modern science and is used at every step in solving important geometric problems), the scientist owns many discoveries. Among them:

• Sum theorem internal corners triangle
• The problem of dividing a plane into regular polygons - equilateral squares, triangles and hexagons
• Invented geometric methods for solving quadratic equations
• Created rules for solving problems

What is the contribution of Pythagoras to science?

In addition to mathematical achievements, Pythagoras made a significant contribution to other sciences. In astronomy and geography, he was among the first scientists who expressed the hypothesis that our planet is round. He believed that we are not the only beings inhabiting the universe.

The discoveries of Pythagoras in the field of music are also significant. He determined that the sound directly depends on the length of the string or flute. Even the popular numerology today owes its existence to Pythagoras - he was the first to combine predictions for the future with numbers.

What is the contribution of Pythagoras to philosophy?

The contribution of Pythagoras to philosophy was that he first introduced the term "philosophy" into scientific use. He founded his school in Italy in 532 BC. At the same time, it was both a religious and monastic order, and political structure. The school had its own charter and fairly strict rules. Interestingly, all students of the school had to give up meat food and personal property, not to tell others about the teachings of the mentor.

Name: Pythagoras of Samos

Years of life: 569 BC - 495 BC

State: Ancient Greece

Field of activity: Mathematician, Philosopher

Greatest Achievement: One of the greatest mathematicians who proved many theorems. Founder of the Pythagorean school.

He was born on the island of Samos (Greece), in 569 BC. According to various sources, the death of Pythagoras is recorded between 500 BC. and 475 BC in Metaponte (Italy).

Personal life of Pythagoras

His father, Mnesarchus, was a gemstone merchant. His mother's name was Pythaida. Pythagoras had two or three brothers.

Some historians say that Pythagoras was married to a woman named Theano and had a daughter, Miya, as well as a son named Telavgus, who excelled as a mathematics teacher and may have taught Empedocles.

Others say that Theano was one of Pythagoras' students and not his wife, and it is possible that Pythagoras never married or had children.

Pythagoras was well educated, he played the lyre throughout his life, knew poetry and read Homer. He was interested in mathematics, philosophy, astronomy and music, and was strongly influenced by Pherecydes (philosophy), Thales (mathematics and astronomy) and Anaximander (philosophy, geometry).

Pythagoras left Samos around 535 BC. and went to Egypt to study with the priests in the temples. Many of the beliefs that Pythagoras pursued later in Italy were borrowed by him from Egyptian priests such as secret signs, the pursuit of purity, not eating legumes or wearing animal skins for clothing.

Ten years later, when Persia invaded, Pythagoras was captured and sent to Babylon (now the territory of Iraq), where he met priests who taught him the sacred rites. Iamblichus (250-330 AD), a Syrian philosopher, wrote of Pythagoras: "He also achieved perfection in arithmetic, music and other mathematical sciences taught by the Babylonians ...".

In 520 BC Pythagoras, now a free man, left Babylon and returned to Samos, and after some time opened a school called "The Semicircle". However, his teachings were not popular with the rulers of the island of Samos, and their desire to get Pythagoras involved in politics failed, so Pythagoras left and settled in Croton, a Greek colony in southern Italy, around 518 BC.

There he founded a philosophical and religious school, where his numerous followers lived and worked.

School of Pythagoras

The Pythagoreans lived according to special rules of conduct, including when it was necessary to say what to wear and what to eat. Pythagoras was the head of the society, and his followers, both men and women, who also lived there, were known as mathematicians. They had no personal belongings and were vegetarians.

• Another group of followers who lived apart from the school had the right to own personal property and not be vegetarians. They all worked together. Pythagoras believed:
  All things are numbers. Mathematics is the basis of everything, and geometry is highest form mathematical research. The physical world can be understood through mathematics.
• The soul resides in the brain and is immortal. He passes from one being to another, sometimes from man to animal, through a series of reincarnations called transmigrations until the soul is pure. Pythagoras believed that mathematics and music could purify.
• Numbers have personality, characteristics, strengths and weaknesses.
• The world depends on the interaction of opposites, such as man and woman, light and darkness, heat and cold, dryness and moisture, lightness and heaviness, speed and slowness.
• Certain symbols have a mystical meaning.

Pythagorean theorems

All members of society were required to observe strict loyalty and secrecy. Due to the strict secrecy among the members of the Pythagorean society and the fact that they shared ideas and intellectual discoveries within the group and were closed to society, it is difficult to be sure whether all the theorems attributed to Pythagoras originally belonged to him, or they were the property of the entire Pythagorean community. .

Some of Pythagoras' students eventually wrote their theories, teachings, and discoveries, but the Pythagoreans always saluted Pythagoras as a Teacher:

• The sum of the angles of a triangle is equal to two right angles.
• Pythagorean theorem - for right triangle the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. The Babylonians understood this even 1000 years before the discovery, but Pythagoras proved it.
• Construction of figures geometric algebra. For example, they solved various equations by geometric means.
• Opening irrational numbers attributed to the Pythagoreans, but it was hardly the idea of ​​Pythagoras, because it is not consistent with his philosophy, all things are numbers, since the number for him meant the ratio of two whole numbers.
• Five regular solids(tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, icosahedron, dodecahedron). It is believed that Pythagoras only knew how to build the first three, not the last two.
• Pythagoras taught that the Earth was a sphere at the center of the Cosmos (Universe); that the planets, the stars, and the universe were spherical, because the sphere was the most perfect figure. He also taught that the paths of the planets were circular. Pythagoras discovered that the morning star was the same as the evening star Venus.

Pythagoras studied odd and even numbers, triangular numbers and perfect numbers. The Pythagoreans contributed to the understanding of angles, triangles, areas, proportions, polygons and polyhedra.
Pythagoras also attributed music to mathematics. He played the seven-stringed lyre for a long time and discovered how harmonious the vibrating strings are when the lengths of the strings are proportional to integers such as 2:1, 3:2, 4:3.

The Pythagoreans also realized that this knowledge could be applied to other musical instruments.

Death of Pythagoras

It is said that he was killed by an angry mob, the Syracusans, during. It is also said that the school of Pythagoras in Croton was burned down, as a result of which he went to Metapont, where he died of starvation.

At least both stories include a scene in which Pythagoras refuses to trample on the harvest. leguminous plants on the field, with the aim of escape and salvation, because of which he was caught along with other Pythagoreans, and in the course of an unequal battle, the students and Pythagoras himself died.

The Pythagorean theorem is cornerstone mathematics and is still so interesting to mathematicians that there are more than 400 various evidence her decisions, including the original proof of the 20th American President Garfield.

DISCOVERIES OF PYTHAGORAS

Pythagoras of Samos, ancient Greek philosopher, great initiate of the Earth, political and religious figure, mathematician, founder of Pythagoreanism. His main life concept is "Everything is Number". This is usually indicated in encyclopedias and his biographies.

But who Pythagoras was, who is now, and who Pythagoras will be in the future remains a cosmic Mystery...

He is a most brilliant scientist, a great initiated philosopher, a sage, the founder of the famous school of Pythagoreans and the spiritual teacher of a number of outstanding philosophers of world renown. Pythagoras became the founder of the teachings about Numbers, Music celestial spheres and Cosmos, created the basis of monadology and the quantum theory of the structure of matter. He made discoveries of great importance in the field of such sciences as mathematics, music, optics, geometry, astronomy, number theory, superstring theory (Earth monochord), psychology, pedagogy, ethics.

Pythagoras developed his philosophy on the basis of knowledge of the laws of the interconnections of the visible and invisible world, the unity of spirit and matter, on the concept of the immortality of the soul and its gradual purification through migration (the theory of incarnation). Many legends are associated with the name of Pythagoras, and his students were able to win fame for themselves and became prominent people, thanks to the works of which we became aware of the foundations of the teachings of Pythagoras, his statements, practical and ethical advice, as well as the theoretical postulates and spiritual tales of Pythagoras.

Perhaps not each of us will be able to remember the Pythagorean theorem, but everyone knows the saying “Pythagorean pants are equal on all sides”. Pythagoras, among other things, was a rather cunning person. The great scientist taught all his students, the Pythagoreans, a simple tactic that was very beneficial for him: he made discoveries - attribute them to your teacher. Maybe this is a rather controversial proposition, but it is thanks to his students that Pythagoras has a truly incredible number of discoveries:

In geometry: the famous and beloved Pythagorean theorem, as well as the construction of individual polyhedra and polygons.

In geography and astronomy: one of the first to express the hypothesis that the Earth is round, and also believed that we are not alone in the universe.

In music: determined that the sound depends on the length of the flute or string.

In numerology: in our time, numerology has become famous and quite popular, but it was Pythagoras who combined numbers with forecasts for the future.

Pythagoras taught that both the beginning and the end of everything that exists is contained in a certain abstract quantity, the so-called Monad. It represents the unknowable absolute emptiness, chaos, the ancestral home of all gods, and at the same time contains the fullness of being in the form of divine Light. Monad, like ether, permeates all things, but is not located in any one of them. This is the sum of all numbers, which is always considered as an indivisible whole, as a unit.

The Pythagoreans depicted the Monad as a figure, which consists of ten points - the so-called knots. All these ten knots, called tetractys by the Pythagoreans, create nine equilateral triangles among themselves, which personify the fullness of the universal emptiness and the Life-Giving Cross.

It is also believed that Pythagoras created the foundations of planimetry, introduced the widespread and mandatory use of proofs in geometry, and created the doctrine of similarity.

Pythagoras made all these discoveries more than two and a half millennia ago! The discoveries of Pythagoras, like those of his faithful disciples, live and will live in the future.

History of the Pythagorean theorem

The great discoveries of Pythagoras the mathematician found their application in different times and around the world. This is especially true for the Pythagorean theorem.

For example, in China Special attention in this regard, one should turn to the mathematical book of Chu-pei, which says this about the famous Pythagorean triangle, which has sides 3, 4, 5: “If we decompose a right angle into its component parts, then the line connecting the ends of all its sides will be 5, then as the base will be 3 and the height 4". The same book shows a drawing that is similar to one of the drawings in the Hindu geometry of Bashara.

An outstanding German researcher in the history of mathematics Kantor believes that the Pythagorean equality 3?+4?=5? already known in Egypt around 2300 BC. e., during the reign of King Amenemhat I (according to papyrus 6619 of the Berlin Museum). According to Kantor, harpedonapts, or the so-called "string tensioners", built right angles using right-angled triangles, the sides of which were - 3, 4, 5. Their method of construction is quite easily reproduced. If you take a piece of rope 12 m long, tie colored stripes to it - one at a three-meter distance from one end, and the other 4 meters from the other, then a right angle will be made between the two sides - 3 and 4 meters. It can be objected to the Harpedonapts that this method of construction would be superfluous if we take, for example, a wooden triangle, which is used by all carpenters. Indeed, there are Egyptian drawings, for example, depicting a carpentry workshop, in which such a tool is found. But nevertheless, the fact remains and the Pythagorean triangle was used in ancient Egypt.

There is little more information about the Pythagorean theorem used by the Babylonians. In the found text, which refers to the times of Hammurabi, and this is 2000 BC. e., there is an approximate definition of the hypotenuse of a right triangle. Therefore, this confirms that in Mesopotamia, calculations were already made with the sides of right-angled triangles, at least in some cases. The mathematician Van der Waerden from Holland, on the one hand, using the current level of knowledge about Babylonian and Egyptian mathematics, and on the other hand, based on a thorough study of Greek sources, came to the following conclusions: “The merit of the first Greek mathematicians: Thales, Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans - not the discovery of mathematics, but its substantiation and systematization. They were able to turn computational recipes based on vague ideas into an exact science.

Among the Hindus, along with the Babylonians and Egyptians, geometry was closely associated with the cult. It is quite possible that the Pythagorean theorem was already known in India in the 18th century BC. e.

The “list of mathematicians”, which Eudemus allegedly compiled, speaks of Pythagoras as follows: “As it is reported, Pythagoras turned the occupation of this branch of knowledge (geometry) into a real science, analyzing its foundations with highest point vision and exploring its theories in a more mental and less material way."

Tree of Pythagoras

The Pythagorean tree is a type of fractal that is based on a figure known as the Pythagorean Pants.

Proving his famous theorem, Pythagoras built a figure in which squares were located on each side of a right triangle. After a while, this figure of Pythagoras turned into a whole tree. The first tree of Pythagoras was built during the Second World War by A. Bosman, using a conventional drawing ruler.

One of the main properties of the Pythagorean tree is that when the area of ​​the first square is one, then at each level the sum of the areas of the squares will also be equal to one. The classical Pythagorean tree has an angle of 45 degrees, but it is also possible to construct a generalized Pythagorean tree using other angles. Such a tree is called the wind-blown tree of Pythagoras. If you draw only segments that connect in any way certain "centers" of triangles, then you get a naked Pythagorean tree.

The Pythagorean tree is a fractal generated like this:

Start with a single square. Then, choosing one of its sides as the base (in the animation, the bottom side is the base):

Construct a right triangle on the opposite side of the base with the hypotenuse coinciding with this side and the ratio of sides 3:4:5. Note that the smaller leg should be to the right of the base (see animation).

On each leg of a right triangle, construct a square with a side that coincides with this leg.

Repeat this procedure for both squares, counting as their bases the sides touching the triangle.

The figure obtained after an infinite number of iterations is a Pythagorean tree.

Pythagoras of Samos went down in history as one of the most prominent intellectuals of mankind. There are many unusual things in him, and it seems that fate itself has prepared for him a special life path.

Pythagoras created his own religious and philosophical school and became famous as one of the greatest mathematicians. His mind and ingenuity were hundreds of years ahead of the time in which he lived.

Pythagoras of Samos

Brief biography of Pythagoras

Of course, a brief biography of Pythagoras will not give us the opportunity to fully reveal this unique personality, but nevertheless we will highlight the main moments of his life.

Childhood and youth

The exact date of Pythagoras' birth is unknown. Historians suggest that he was born between 586-569. BC, on the Greek island of Samos (hence its nickname - "Samos"). According to one legend, the parents of Pythagoras were predicted that their son would become a great sage and enlightener.

Pythagoras' father was called Mnesarchus, and his mother was Parthenia. The head of the family was in charge precious stones, so the family was quite wealthy.

Upbringing and education

Already at an early age, Pythagoras showed interest in various sciences and art. His first teacher was called Hermodamant. He laid the foundations of music, painting and grammar in the future scientist, and also forced him to memorize passages from Homer's Odyssey and Iliad.

When Pythagoras was 18 years old, he decided to go to Egypt to gain even more knowledge and experience. This was a serious step in his biography, but he was not destined to come true. Pythagoras was unable to enter Egypt because it was closed to the Greeks.

Stopping on the island of Lesbos, Pythagoras began to study physics, medicine, dialectics and other sciences from Pherekides of Syros. After living on the island for several years, he wanted to visit Miletus, where the famous philosopher Thales still lived, who formed the first philosophical school in Greece.

Very soon, Pythagoras becomes one of the most educated and famous people of his time. However, after some time, drastic changes take place in the biography of the sage, as the Persian war began.

Pythagoras falls into Babylonian captivity, and long time lives in captivity.

Mysticism and Homecoming

Due to the fact that astrology and mysticism were popular in Babylon, Pythagoras became addicted to the study of various mystical mysteries, customs and supernatural phenomena. The whole biography of Pythagoras is full of search and solutions of all kinds, which so attracted his attention.

After being in captivity for more than 10 years, he unexpectedly receives liberation personally from the Persian king, who knew firsthand about the wisdom of the learned Greek.

Once free, Pythagoras immediately returns to his homeland to tell his compatriots about the acquired knowledge.

School of Pythagoras

Thanks to extensive knowledge, constant and oratory, he manages to quickly gain fame and recognition among the inhabitants of Greece.

At the speeches of Pythagoras there are always many people who are amazed at the wisdom of the philosopher and see in him almost a deity.

One of the main points in the biography of Pythagoras is the fact that he created a school based on his own principles understanding of the world. It was called that: the school of the Pythagoreans, that is, the followers of Pythagoras.

He also had his own way of teaching. For example, students were not allowed to talk during class and were not allowed to ask any questions.

Thanks to this, the disciples could cultivate modesty, meekness and patience.

To a modern person, these things may seem strange, but do not forget that in the time of Pythagoras the very concept schooling in our understanding simply didn't exist.

Maths

In addition to medicine, politics and art, Pythagoras was most seriously involved in mathematics. He managed to make a significant contribution to the development of geometry.

Until now, in schools around the world, the Pythagorean theorem is considered the most popular theorem: a 2 + b 2 \u003d c 2. Every student remembers that Pythagorean pants, are equal in all directions.

In addition, there is a "Pythagorean table", with which it was possible to multiply numbers. In fact, this is a modern multiplication table, just in a slightly different form.

Numerology of Pythagoras

There is a remarkable thing in the biography of Pythagoras: he was extremely interested in numbers all his life. With their help, he tried to understand the nature of things and phenomena, life and death, suffering, happiness and other important issues of life.

He associated the number 9 with constancy, 8 with death, and he also paid great attention to the square of numbers. In this sense, the perfect number was 10. Pythagoras called the ten the symbol of the Cosmos.

The Pythagoreans were the first to divide numbers into even and odd. Even numbers, according to the mathematician, had a feminine principle, while odd numbers had a masculine one.

In those days when there was no science as such, people learned about life and the world order as best they could. Pythagoras, as a great son of his time, tried to find answers to these and other questions with the help of figures and numbers.

Philosophical doctrine

The teachings of Pythagoras can be divided into two categories:

• Scientific approach
• Religiosity and mysticism

Unfortunately, not all the works of Pythagoras were saved. And all due to the fact that the scientist practically did not make any notes, transferring knowledge to students orally.

In addition to being a scientist and philosopher, Pythagoras can rightly be called a religious innovator. In this, Leo Tolstoy was a bit like him (we published it in a separate article).

Pythagoras was a vegetarian and encouraged his followers to do so. He did not allow the students to eat food of animal origin, forbade them to drink alcohol, swear and behave obscenely.

It is also interesting that Pythagoras did not teach ordinary people who sought to obtain only superficial knowledge. He accepted as disciples only those in whom he saw selected and enlightened individuals.

Personal life

Studying the biography of Pythagoras, one may get the erroneous impression that the time for personal life he didn't have. However, this is not quite true.

When Pythagoras was about 60 years old, at one of his speeches he met beautiful girl named Feana.

They got married, and from this marriage they had a boy and a girl. So the outstanding Greek was a family man.

Death

Surprisingly, none of the biographers can unequivocally say how he died. great philosopher and mathematician. There are three versions of his death.

According to the first, Pythagoras was killed by one of the students whom he refused to teach. In a fit of anger, the killer set fire to the Academy of the scientist, where he died.

The second version tells that during the fire, the adherents of the scientist, wanting to save him from death, created a bridge from their own bodies.

But the most common version of the death of Pythagoras is his death during an armed conflict in the city of Metapont.

The great scientist lived for more than 80 years, dying in 490 BC. e. For my long life he has done a great deal, and he is quite rightly regarded as one of the most brilliant minds in history.

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Influenced by:

The life story of Pythagoras is difficult to separate from the legends that represent him as a perfect sage and a great initiate into all the mysteries of the Greeks and barbarians. Even Herodotus called him "the greatest Hellenic sage".

The main sources on the life and teachings of Pythagoras are the writings of the Neoplatonic philosopher Iamblichus (242-306) " ABOUT Pythagorean life »; Porfiry (234-305) " Life of Pythagoras»; Diogenes Laertes (200-250) book. 8, " Pythagoras". These authors relied on the writings of earlier authors, of which the student of Aristotle Aristoxenus (370-300 BC) should be noted, originally from Tarentum, where the positions of the Pythagoreans were strong.

Thus, the earliest known sources about the teachings of Pythagoras appeared only 200 years after his death. Pythagoras himself did not leave any writings, and all information about him and his teachings is based on the works of his followers, who are not always impartial.

Biography

Pythagoras' parents were Mnesarchus and Partenida from the island of Samos. Mnesarchus was a stone cutter (Diogenes Laertius); according to Porphyry, he was a rich merchant from Tyre, who received Samian citizenship for the distribution of grain in a lean year. The first version is preferable, since Pausanias cites the genealogy of Pythagoras in the male line from Hippasus from the Peloponnesian Phlius, who fled to Samos and became Pythagoras' great-grandfather. Partenida, later renamed Pythaida by her husband, came from the noble family of Ankey, the founder of the Greek colony on Samos.

The birth of a child was allegedly predicted by the Pythia in Delphi, therefore Pythagoras got his name, which means " the one announced by Pythia". In particular, the Pythia informed Mnesarchus that Pythagoras would bring as much benefit and good to people as no one else had and would bring in the future. Therefore, to celebrate, Mnesarchus gave his wife a new name Pythaida and gave the name of the child Pythagoras. Pythaida accompanied her husband on his travels, and Pythagoras was born in Sidon of Phoenicia (according to Iamblichus) in about 570 BC. e.

According to ancient authors, Pythagoras met with almost all the famous sages of that era, Greeks, Persians, Chaldeans, Egyptians, absorbed all the knowledge accumulated by mankind. In popular literature, Pythagoras is sometimes credited with the Olympic victory in boxing, confusing Pythagoras the philosopher with his namesake (Pythagoras, son of Crates of Samos), who won his victory at the 48th Games 18 years before the birth of the famous philosopher.

At a young age, Pythagoras went to Egypt to gain wisdom and secret knowledge from the Egyptian priests. Diogenes and Porphyry write that the Samian tyrant Polycrates supplied Pythagoras letter of recommendation to Pharaoh Amasis, thanks to which he was admitted to training and initiated into the sacraments forbidden to other strangers.

« The Pythagoreans formed a large community (there were more than three hundred of them), but it was only a small part of the city, which was no longer governed according to the same customs and mores. However, while the Crotonians owned their land, and Pythagoras was with them, state structure that existed from the founding of the city, although there were dissatisfied, expecting opportunity for a coup. But when Sybaris was conquered, Pythagoras left, and the Pythagoreans, who ruled the conquered land, did not distribute it by lot, as the majority wanted, then hidden hatred flared up, and many citizens opposed them ... Relatives of the Pythagoreans were even more annoyed at what they served right hand only to their own, and from relatives - only to their parents, and that they provide their property for common use, and it is separated from the property of relatives. When the relatives started this enmity, the rest readily joined the conflict... After many years... the Crotonians were seized with regret and remorse, and they decided to return to the city those Pythagoreans who were still alive.»

Many Pythagoreans died, the survivors scattered throughout Italy and Greece. The German historian F. Schlosser remarks about the defeat of the Pythagoreans: “ The attempt to transfer caste and clerical life to Greece and, contrary to the spirit of the people, to change its political structure and mores according to the requirements of an abstract theory ended in complete failure.»

According to Porphyry, Pythagoras himself died as a result of the anti-Pythagorean rebellion in Metapontum, but other authors do not confirm this version, although they willingly convey the story that the dejected philosopher starved himself to death in the sacred temple.

Philosophical doctrine

The doctrine of Pythagoras should be divided into two components: scientific approach to the knowledge of the world and the religious-mystical way of life preached by Pythagoras. The merits of Pythagoras in the first part are not known for certain, since he was later credited with everything created by followers within the framework of the Pythagorean school. The second part prevails in the teachings of Pythagoras, and it was she who remained in the minds of most ancient authors.

The merit of the Pythagoreans was the advancement of the idea of ​​the quantitative laws of the development of the world, which contributed to the development of mathematical, physical, astronomical and geographical knowledge. The basis of things is the number, Pythagoras taught, to know the world means to know the numbers that control it. By studying numbers, the Pythagoreans developed numerical relationships and found them in all areas human activity. Numbers and proportions were studied in order to cognize and describe the soul of a person, and having cognized, to control the process of the transmigration of souls with the ultimate goal of sending the soul to some higher divine state.

Despite the common opinion that Pythagoras was allegedly a vegetarian, Diogenes Laersky writes that Pythagoras occasionally ate fish, abstained only from arable bulls and rams, and allowed the rest of the animals for food.

Pythagoras was criticized by his contemporary Heraclitus: Pythagoras, the son of Mnesarches, was engaged in collecting information more than all people in the world, and, having pulled these works for himself, he passed off knowledge and fraud as his own wisdom.» . According to Diogenes Laertes, in the continuation of the well-known saying of Heraclitus “Much knowledge does not teach the mind”, Pythagoras is mentioned among others: “otherwise Hesiod and Pythagoras would have taught, as well as Xenophanes and Hecateus”.

Scientific achievements

Coin with the image of Pythagoras

IN modern world Pythagoras is considered the great mathematician and cosmologist of antiquity, but early evidence before the 3rd century. BC e. no mention of his merits. As Iamblichus writes about the Pythagoreans: They also had a remarkable habit of attributing everything to Pythagoras and not at all claiming the glory of being a discoverer, except perhaps in a few cases.»

In the III century. BC e. a compilation of the sayings of Pythagoras appeared, known as the "Sacred Word", from which the so-called "Golden Verses" later arose (sometimes they are attributed to the 4th century BC without good reason). For the first time quotations from these verses are quoted by Chrysippus in the 3rd century. BC e. , although, perhaps, at that time the compilation had not yet developed into a finished form. The final excerpt from the "Golden Poems" translated by I. Peter:

But you be firm: the divine race is present in mortals,
To them, proclaiming, sacred nature reveals everything.
If this is not alien to you, you will fulfill orders,
You will heal your soul and save you from many disasters.
Dishes, I said, leave those that I indicated in the cleansings.
And be guided by true knowledge - the best charioteer.
If you, leaving the body, ascend into the free ether,
You will become incorruptible, and eternal, and death does not know God.

Notes

Sources and links

	Pythagoras at Wikiquote
	Pythagoras at Wikimedia Commons

• Iamblichus, On the Pythagorean Life
• Diogenes Laertius, Pythagoras
• Porfiry, Life of Pythagoras
• "Golden verses" of the Pythagoreans in the Alexander Kobrinsky Library
• Besonides, Pythagorean Word

Literature

• Zhmud L.Ya. Pythagoras and the early Pythagoreans. M., 2012. - 445 p. ISBN 978-5-91244-068-7
• Zhmud L. Ya. Pythagoras and his school. - M.: Nauka, 1990. - ISBN 5-02-027292-2
• Zhmud L. Ya. Science, philosophy and religion in early Pythagoreanism. - St. Petersburg, 1994. - 376 p. - ISBN 5-86050-066-1
• Fragments of early Greek philosophers. Part 1: From Epic Theocosmogonies to the Rise of Atomism, Ed. A. V. Lebedev. - M.: Nauka, 1989. - p. 138-149.
• Leontiev A.V. The tradition of Pythagoras in Aristoxenus and Dicearchus // Man. Nature. Society. Actual problems. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference of Young Scientists December 27-30, 2000 - St. Petersburg University Press. 2000. - S. 298-301.
• Leontiev A.V. On the question of the image of Pythagoras in the ancient tradition of the 6th-5th centuries BC. e. // Mnemon. Research and publications on the history of the ancient world. Edited by Professor E. D. Frolov. - Issue 3. - St. Petersburg, 2004.
• Panchenko D.V. The Pythagorean Paradox // Indo-European linguistics and classical philology - XII: Materials of readings dedicated to the memory of prof. I. M. Tronsky June 23-25, 2008, pp. 355-363.
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see also